Kalkwasser Reactor Issues

[starmanres]

Dear Reefer Gurus,

I currently have a Calcium Reactor but have had issues with the PH dropping too low especially at night so in reading my Reefcentral Bible I decided to add a Kalkwasser Reactor to my set up.

I bought the Aqua Medic from Marine Depot.

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_calcium_reactors_aqua_medic_kalkwasserreactor.asp

The directions, which are less than ideal, show a set up of adding another small tank with RO/DI water and putting a small pump to run on a timer to drip Kalkwasser into the system.

I don't know about you guys, but my wife already feels that my tank is out of control anyway in her living room and adding another tank to my sump and refugium and 125 gallon beauty is going to get me sleeping with my fishes...

I decided to add it inline to my RO/DI autofill so as evaporation naturally occurred, it would fill with Kalkwasser thus improving my PH.

All seemed to go great until the Kent Valve in my Sump closed because the level was full. The pressure backs up into the Kalkwasser Reactor and causes it to leak along the top where the eight screw clamps are located. I can see the plastic lid actually "bubbling" from the pressure and leaking out. I have used the bibcock to drop the pressure to a trickle but it still puts so much pressure into that reactor that it leaks. I have even moved the screw-clamps around trying to close the gaps but it still leaks - which makes my wife scream obscenities at me...

Should I just buy some silicon and seal the entire top closed? With the drain in the bottom and the fill cap on top will I really ever need to open it anyway?

Maybe I could produce some metal strips to go in the channels where the Screw-Clamps hit and get more even pressure across the top...

Maybe I need to chunk the Aqua Medic and order something like...

http://www.reeftek.com/Nilsen_Reactor.htm

Or maybe I just have a defective Aqua Medic Reactor and need to learn German...

Or maybe Kalkwasser Reactors are supposed to leak and I need to learn to like wet carpet and an angry wife... :eek1:

All feedback is appreciated and thanks in advance!

Robert

 

[elephen]

Have you tried contacting Aqua Medic? They have a US office which I have found to be extremely helpful with troubleshooting their products.

 

[Ereefic]

The way you have it set up (RO/DI hooked up directly to the reactor) is a disaster waiting to happen. If that float valve dirties up and sticks, there's an endless supply of kalk waiting to wipe out your tank.

I would look into a dosing pump of sorts that would work in your application. I got a Litremeter III so I could have a large FW resivour in the basement, yet still pump to the first floor where the tank is. Something to think about.

 

[gobygoby]

you are not supposed to have a kalk reactor hooked up this way.

the reactor should be after the float valve or you will get your current problem with any kalk reactor. silicone and or tightening down more will only cause more pressure in the reactor.

the ideal setup is to have the reactor in line with a float valve on a seloniod and the reactor should be after the seloinoid right before the water enters your aquarium water.

ro---->float valve----->kalkreactor---->aquarium

or

RO----->selonoid----->kalk reactor---->aquarium


just remember the reactor must be after the valve or selonoid

hth
Goby

 

[wife no likey]

Are those reactors meant to be running at full water pressure?

That's like 55 psi in there

 

[stevedola]

I vote for the litermeter III to pump from a large RO storage bucket (32gal) to the kalk reactor. This way you wont have to add extra tank or depend on float switch. LMIII has alot of applications for waterchanges and other dosing.

 

[starmanres]

Wow... So I have some more work to do...

It looks like the consensus is to put my RO/DI line back as a direct to the Kent Float Valve and look for a Plan B on the Kalkwasser Reactor.

I live in Oklahoma so we do not have Basements here. I have to put everything under my stand, which is quite full to say the least or hide it behind my 65" Projection TV so it is out of sight of the wife...

Currently my Chiller, CO2 tank and the Kalkwasser Reactor live behind the TV. I removed the inline RO/DI back to autofill but I am still a little sketchy on the Litermeter III. Looking at the prices on them, they are very proud of them aren't they?

If I hook up the litermeter III to my now defunct Aqua Medic Kalkwasser Reactor will that save me the bucket? I mean will the litermeter III push or pull from the current connections so I can dose Kalkwasser by time or am I just out of luck with this set up?

If I do order the Litermeter III, what add ons should I look at to get this set up so I don't flirt with disaster? I mean would I need the Topoff module? Is it worth the $10 to get the 240v version over the 110v?

I do like the idea of putting a 5 gallon jug of saltwater on it and having it automatically do water changes for me... That would be too cool!

Thanks Again Folks!

You're the Best!

Robert

 

[Ereefic]

The LMIII's are pricey, no doubt, but a very nice pump. I chose it because of it's capability to pull/push long distances, where other pumps can fall short.

If you go with the LMIII for the kalk reactor, all you'll need is a RO holding container, LMIII and a kalk reactor.

I run my LMIII/Kalk reactor setup as follows:

33gal. trash can holding RO/DI water to the LMIII, LMIII to the kalk reactor and then to the sump. I have my kalk mixing pump on a timer to mix for 5 min./4 times a day. The LMIII is on a timer as well and goes off 1 minute before the mix and stays off for 55 minutes after the mix is complete. I am dosing 2.5 gal. a day right now.

The LMIII keeps its setting when the power goes out/off and resumes in the mode (RUN) when the power comes back on.

You can also hook the LMIII up to float switches and top off all evaporated water with kalk. My sump doesn't allow for this type of setup, but the way I have it working is great.

 

[starmanres]

Well I bit the bullet and ordered the litermeter III per your suggestions with the top off valve addition.

I don't have room for the 33 gallon trash container full of Kalkwasser.

I was thinking that I would use my Aqua Medic as the source for my Kalkwasser solution. My thoughts are to hook up a "T" to my RO/DI output with a valve for filling the Kalkwasser Reactor. The Aqua Medic has a stirring pump that will keep the Kalkwasser mixed and should hold several weeks of Kalkwasser.

This will keep me from having to add a separate bucket to my system.

My concern is that the litermeter III will supply too much pressure and he Kalkwasser Reactor will leak as well. I am wondering if I use the litermeter III to pump into the Aqua Medic and "push" Kalkwasser back into the sump.

If I "pull" the Kalkwasser from the Aqua Medic, I wonder how I can automate refilling the reactor with RO/DI to replace what the Kalkwasser uses. Would it be possible for the litermeter III to pump RO/DI into the reactor at the same rate as it pulls Kalkwasser out?

I wonder if I could hook a low pressure connection to my RO/DI line for the litermeter III to pull from without having to put another holding tank on the system...

I do have some 5 gallon storage tanks that I could set up on my system with a float valve to fill and provide a "low-pressure" reservoir for the litermeter III to pull from if you think that would work...

Again, I appreciate your help on setting this up.

Robert

 

[Gold Stripe]

I've got a Chemtech pulsafeeder dosing pump pulling RO water from a 50 gallon holding tank and pushing it through a Precision Marine Kalk reactor into my sump. There is a float switch with a second as a backup controlling the dosing pump to shut it off when the sump is full.

Works great.

 

[Ereefic]

What volume are dosing a day right now?

The best way to set it up is to have a container (whatever size) that will hold the supply of RO/DI water. If you can hook up a float valve to this container, it would make your life easier, especially if it's a low volume container. You may need to hook up a selinoid so it's not turning on and off your RO/DI with every little bit of water removed. Pull it from that with the LMIII and pump it into the kalk reactor, in turn pushing water into the sump.

 

[Ereefic]

starmanres, do you have a closet somewhere in your place where you can put a larger vessel for holding RO water? This would be ideal if you could do something like that. Put the LMIII close to that vessel and run the line to the sump.

 

[starmanres]

Before I bought my Aqua Media I was buffing my PH every few days because my PH was dropping to 7.8 at night and not recovering during the day.

I came across the idea to use the Kalkwasser Reactor from reading several threads on Reefcentral. I didn't want to add a huge amount of sweat work by adding it so I wanted to automate as much as possible.

My approach, until today, was adding Kalkwasser as the water evaporated from my tank. My problem with that method was the leaks. I couldn't leave it on to add Kalk slowly so I would add several quarts of Kalk at once causing my PH to spike too much in a hurry. My PH would go from 8.05 to 8.21 in less than 1 hour which concerned me.

I am buffing Magnesium to stabilize my PH. My Mag test is showing it just below 1000 ppm so I need about 200 ppm to get it back in range.

I do not have a closet close - the tank is in the middle of my living room. I do have my master bath cabinets right behind the wall where my tank sits. I run my RO/DI filter through the wall behind the tank that is tapped from my master bathroom sink. Remember that my wife has demanded that everything remain in my stand or TOTALLY out of sight. I might be able to tuck one of those 5 gallon jugs under the cabinets in the bathroom without taking too much heat. I'm thinking a float valve in a 5 gallon jug will provide the low pressure flow for the litermeter III.

I hope this helps in understanding the method to my madness.

Robert

 

[jwedehase]

I run kalk through a Kent float valve, also. However, I have a reservoir up above the tank, so the kalk reactor is gravity fed from the reservoir. I manually fill the reservoir, but you could also plumb your RO/DI into it with yet another float valve.

I used the Kent float valve per the recommendation of Weatherson, last months' TOTM (and local reefer to me). His has worked without fail for years, and mine is coming up on a year now, as well. It gets a lot of calcium buildup on it, and I manually sink the float for about 10 seconds about once a day to clear out the valve itself. In addition, I clean it every few months to get rid of the calcium buildup.